The three waits
The appointment. Most consulates book through their BLS visa centre, and slots open a few weeks ahead and go quickly. Some months you find one for next week, some months for two months out. This is the wait you control least, which is why I ask clients to book it before anything else.
The decision. The consulate has one month from a complete application to decide, and it can extend that period. In practice decisions come two to six weeks after the appointment.
The pickup. Once the visa is ready you have a month to collect it, and three months from its start date to enter Spain.
What the law says, and what silence means
For the initial visa the consulate decides within a month, extendable. If it says nothing, the silence is a refusal. That is the opposite of the renewal, filed in Spain, where three months without an answer means the renewal is granted.
So a long silence is not good news. When a consulate goes past six weeks, we act on it together, before the silence turns into a decision you then have to appeal.
Consulate by consulate
The rules are the same everywhere, but each consulate has its habits. This is what we know of each in 2026.
| Consulate | States it covers | Appointment | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont | The consulate | Check on the consulate's page whether the appointment is with the consulate or with its BLS visa centre. |
| New York | Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania | BLS visa centre | The bank letter gives the 12-month average balance and the balance on 31 December. |
| Washington, D.C. | Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia | BLS visa centre | BLS publishes its own checklist for this consulate. Follow it page by page. |
| Miami | Florida, Georgia, South Carolina | BLS visa centre | Files that hinted at remote work have been refused in 2026. Proof that work has ended matters here. |
| Houston | Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas | BLS visa centre | Paper originals of the FBI check and of its federal apostille. Means are read net, not gross. Accommodation is required and must name every applicant. Arriving more than 15 minutes late means booking a new appointment. |
| Chicago | Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin | BLS visa centre | Has asked for three years of tax returns, retirees included. |
| Los Angeles | Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah (southern California counties) | BLS visa centre | Decisions tend to take longer than elsewhere. Files that hinted at remote work have been refused in 2026. |
| San Francisco | Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming (northern and central California) | BLS visa centre | Has asked for three years of tax returns, retirees included. Decisions tend to take longer than elsewhere. |
Two of them stand out on timing. Los Angeles and San Francisco tend to take longer to decide than the rest, so leave more room before your move date. The others usually answer within the two to six weeks.
Each consulate page has its own Non-Lucrative section with its checklist and the official link. Start from the list of consulates if you are unsure which covers your state.
A realistic calendar
Counting back from the day you want to land in Spain:
- Five to six months before: decide the visa, book the appointment, start the long papers, such as police certificates from other countries you lived in.
- Three months before the appointment: order the FBI check and send it for its federal apostille.
- Two months before: civil certificates if family comes, the insurance policy, proof of accommodation.
- The last month: medical certificate, bank letter, statements, translations, forms.
- After the appointment: two to six weeks for the decision, then collect the visa and travel.
Your own dates depend on your appointment. The checklist tool puts each paper on the calendar for you and marks anything that can no longer be ready in time.
What slows a file down
Most delays come before the appointment, not after it. An FBI check sent for the wrong apostille costs weeks. A police certificate from a second country can take months. A bank that does not know how to write the letter costs a week each round. The mistakes guide lists the most common ones.
After the appointment, the usual cause of a long wait is a request for one more document. Answer it the same day. Every day you take is a day added to the decision.
Waiting well
Do not book flights or give notice on your lease until the visa is in your passport. Keep your passport available: some consulates keep it while they decide. And keep your phone and email close, because a request for one more paper usually comes with a short deadline.
The consulate has one month from a complete application, which it can extend. In practice decisions arrive two to six weeks after the appointment. Los Angeles and San Francisco tend to take longer than the rest.
Silence counts as a refusal for this visa. It is not the positive silence of a renewal in Spain. If the consulate goes well past six weeks, we act on it together before the silence becomes a decision.
Four to six months from the first document to the visa in your passport is a realistic plan. The appointment slot is the part you control least, so book it first and plan the papers back from it.
You collect the visa within a month of being told it is ready, and you have three months from its start date to enter Spain. Book flights only once the visa is in your passport.
Sources: Reglamento de Extranjería, RD 1155/2024 (BOE) · Ley Orgánica 4/2000 (BOE) · Every figure on this site, with its source.